{"id":881,"date":"2025-12-02T14:25:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/project\/kiramet\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T11:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:32:47","slug":"kiramet","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/en\/project\/kiramet\/","title":{"rendered":"KIRAMET"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KIRAMET \u2013 AI-based recycling of metal composite waste \u2013 is an Austrian flagship project advancing the circular economy in the metals sector. Against the backdrop of the European Green Deal and the EU circular economy strategy, resource consumption and CO\u2082 emissions must be significantly reduced, while resource efficiency and security of supply are increased. Metals in particular have a substantial environmental footprint: metal production often consumes multiples of the raw materials compared to the amount of usable metal ultimately produced.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is where KIRAMET comes in: the project aims to fundamentally improve the recycling of metal composite waste\u2014such as from vehicles, electrical appliances, or end-of-life scrap\u2014using artificial intelligence (AI). To achieve this, it takes a holistic view of the entire recycling chain, from collection and dismantling to processing and metallurgical recovery, and models it end-to-end in a data-driven and digitally integrated way. <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Project objectives and technical innovation<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A core objective of <strong>KIRAMET <\/strong>is to develop AI-based solutions for <strong>highly efficient, sensor-supported sorting and recovery of metal composite waste<\/strong>\u2014and to transfer these solutions into industrial practice. The project follows a consistently application-driven approach across the entire value chain. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key technological focus areas include:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Efficient sensor-based particle sorting<\/strong>: Computer vision, spectroscopy, and other sensor technologies are combined with modern AI methods to accurately detect, classify, and separate metal particles and composite materials into high-purity fractions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Intelligent recycling platform<\/strong>: A digital platform connects data across the entire value chain\u2014from acquisition and preprocessing through to metallurgical process control. This enables post-consumer waste streams to be enriched with decision support for optimal recovery and transformed into <strong>secondary raw materials with higher added value<\/strong>. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Support for digital product passports<\/strong>: KIRAMET is developing classification systems that can assess\u2014especially for vehicle components\u2014their actual recyclability, providing an important building block for future <strong>Digital Product Passports<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Practical implementation through use cases<\/strong>: The AI solutions will be tested and refined at real scale in three industrial use cases together with participating companies, ensuring practical viability and long-term adoption in the recycling sector.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The consortium brings together leading industrial and research partners, including Montanuniversit\u00e4t Leoben, K1-MET, voestalpine, Salzburg Research, the Software Competence Center Hagenberg, PROFACTOR, and other companies from the recycling and metals industries.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AI for metal recycling\u2014from waste fractions to high-value secondary<\/h3>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For recycling companies: KIRAMET enables significantly more precise and efficient sorting of metal composite waste. This reduces losses, increases yields of high-quality fractions, and improves the economic viability of complex recycling processes. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For the metals and steel industry: By improving the quality and availability of secondary raw materials, the use of primary resources can be reduced, CO\u2082 emissions lowered, and security of supply strengthened.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For policymakers and society: The project directly contributes to the objectives of the European Green Deal and the circular economy by increasing resource efficiency, reducing waste volumes, and supporting more climate-friendly production processes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For research and digitalisation: KIRAMET serves as a showcase for how AI, sensor technologies, and digital platforms can be applied in a highly complex domain such as metal recycling\u2014including new data models, AI workflows, and interfaces to digital product passports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With its integrated view of the entire recycling process and a strong focus on industrial deployment, KIRAMET helps embed AI solutions sustainably in the recycling sector, close metal loops, and pave the way toward a more sustainable, climate-neutral circular economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":687,"template":"","categories":[70,49],"class_list":["post-881","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automation-for-flexible-manufacturing","category-sustainability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profactor.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}